Intertwined
by Person1111
Summary: The Flood, the Precursors, the Forerunners, the Reapers, and the Protheans. Seemingly unconnected, they are all intertwined in some way. Want to know how? Read on!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I feel like I could have done this one better, but I honestly don't feel like going through this whole thing again. Anyways, I would like general information on both ME and Halo, since I'm a bit lacking in that kind of stuff. I have played the games, but I still have a lot things I want to know. Anyways, information on ships, armaments, etc. would be nice. ME ships will probably be using the upgrades that the Normandy can get from ME 2 probably, I'm not sure.**

Gunfire flew through the air as a group of soldiers take cover in a building, firing out the windows at the monstrosities that approached them. Six men all dressed in the same suits of green armor, resembling the armor that Spartan-III's wore, during the Human-Covenant War, except for the chest, which looked more like a green vest ending right above the stomach, ducked and fired their guns, fighting for their lives. All except one that is. A single soldier sat under a shattered window, hugging his weapon and laying against the metal wall of the apartment building, his eyes wide open underneath his Military Police helmet's thin, polarized, visor. The suddenness of the attack had surprised everyone, but even then, most men fought back. This man, struck immobile by shock, never expected a war when he joined the marines; he just joined for the benefits, and possibly an exciting story here and there to pick up chicks, nothing like the firefight he was in right now. A man sharing the same window as the shell shocked soldier turned to him, yelling "Get your ass in gear Lee! We can't have you dozing off like this!" Lee didn't respond, instead, he just turned towards him and stared. "Dammit!" the man yelled as he once again returned fire, ducking back down to reload. One of the other eight marines fell backwards as a sniper round punched through a marine's head, something seeming to flash and pop around him first, splattering his brains inside his helmet.

"Sarge, they got Greg!" some other soldier yelled. One of them threw a grenade as more bullets flew through another window, shredding the already ruined receptionist desk behind them.

Sarge, who ended up being the one who yelled at Lee, told the other marine to "Shut up, and keep shooting!" They complied, and continued to shoot. The whole thing seemed like a blur to Lee, but it all snapped apart when a grenade flew through the window, and slammed into Sarge. As it fell to the floor, Sarge looked at it almost curiously, until he realized what it was. Diving on top of it, he took the full brunt of the blast, blowing him into bloody chunks that spread all over the room. In that instant, as blood sprayed across his face and chest, Lee broke out of his trance. The three remaining marines all looked horrified at what had just occurred, all of them just sitting there and staring at what remained of their sergeant. Suddenly, the whole building shook as some kind missile or artillery shell hit the top of the building, causing the top most floors to collapse right in front of the four remaining marines, blocking off the enemy, as well as the front door.

They all just sat there for what seemed like hours as their minds tried to process what had happened, until finally, one marine broke out of the shock, and turned to Lee, asking "What now sir?" It took Lee a few minutes to realize that being a corporal, he was suddenly the highest ranking soldier in their band of four, and was in command. Lee looked at the other three. They all just stared back with seemingly blank faces. It was a bit hard to process emotions at the moment, and if they survived this, they would all probably need some kind of therapy, but survival was the foremost objective for now, and responsibility went to Lee to lead them all through.

Lee sighed, as he stood up, waving his fellow marines over. After a few moments of hesitation, their radios blared the orders the retreat to Rally Point Bravo. They all nodded to each other as they all headed out a back door that lead into the alleyways that were in-between the buildings, the automatic doors sliding open, allowing the noon day sun into the relatively dark room they were previously in. The buildings all around them seemed to be made of metal and steel, the highways cracked, and craters ever present as some kind of artillery fell from the skies. Lee waved his men through the block, using the alleyways to stay off of the major roads where the invaders would most likely travel through. For a while, they came upon no dead bodies, sticking to the alleyways, and when forced to travel through the streets, they would make sure no hostiles were around before running for the next block of buildings.

After about fifteen blocks of avoiding the large invasion forces and finding the city oddly desolate, the only signs of human life being the distant gunfire and explosions. Peering from behind a building, Lee checked for any signs of life. When it was obvious no one was there, Lee turned back towards the three under his charge. "Alright, the rally point is at the next block, in the plaza. Let's go." They ran through the street, and as they turned the corner into the plaza, they came face to face with the invaders. There were seven of them. It was the first time Lee actually got a good look at one of them, since he had spent most of his time in a trance, and trying to avoid them. They seemed to be covered in some kind of exoskeleton; it was hard to tell since their armor covered all but their faces. Their faces seem to be covered in plates, and had some kind of head fringe, from what he could tell, and they seemed to have markings of varied colors on their faces, mostly white. Both groups seemed to just stare at each other for a while, and Lee thought he could see one of their jaws drop, or at least what seemed like it, since they had two mandibles instead of lips. "Shit! Run!" Lee yelled as he recovered from shock. The three others ran with him, the aliens recovering as well and opening fire on them. Another marine died as the bullets impacted against his back, popping his shields with a bright, golden, flare, and toppling him head over heels. They didn't even stop to return fire, knowing there was no way to take them down. One marine threw a grenade behind him though, but no one knew what had happened after the detonation, since no one had the guts to look back. Smoke obscured their attackers view, allowing them escape, but gunfire ripped through the smoke, killing another with a head shot, his shields already weakened from the initial surprise attack. The remaining two turned a corner, and into another alley way, hoping to escape. Lee dived into a pile of garbage bags, while the other marine hid in a dumpster. Their pursuers could be heard running by, and their footsteps eventually faded.

Crawling out from the piles of dirt, the other marine crashed into the ground, tripping over the edge of the dumpster, gold flickering around him, showing his shields had recharged. He sighed. "Man, that was close. They got Kevin and Himmler too. Shit man." Lee, after getting out of the pile of trash, laid against the wall as his hands began to shake from the adrenaline, his gun still held tightly in his grasp, as his shields recharged as well. "So, what now?" the nameless marine asked.

Lee shrugged, reaching his hand up and putting it on the right side of his helmet. "Hello, can anyone hear me?" he asked into his radio. Only static met his ears. After repeating this a few times, he sighed. "Damn," he said, letting his arm drop back down. "Either no one can hear us, or they're jamming us."

"Shit man… So what are we supposed to do?"

"Try to find a way back? I don't know. We can't sit here forever." Hey both got up, and headed north, deeper into the city. They entered the plaza they just ran from, seeing dead bodies, and pieces, just strewn everywhere. Most of them were human, but there were a few alien ones though. They pushed on, past the once beautiful flowers, now trampled, and uprooted, past the once tall buildings, toppled on the ground. The city just wasn't the same anymore. Past the plaza, there was only more death. Quite a bit less this time, since the humans were presumably in retreat heading deeper into the city.

The nameless marine's next steps were stopped suddenly by bullets, as a gun on full auto poured ammunition into him. His shields stopped around ten before succumbing to the onslaught and flashing away, the bullets now tearing into his armor and unprotected stomach. Lee pulled up his gun and fired at the two aliens in front of him, the gun's muzzle flashing with every shot. One managed to take cover behind a mailbox, while the other stumbled back as his barrier took the rounds. Emptying the clip into the weird bug-humanoid alien, its barrier finally died, allowing its blue blood to be spilled. It toppled backwards as the second alien came from behind his cover, throwing some kind of disc, which landed next to Lee. He stared at it for a second before recognizing it as the same type of grenade that killed his sergeant, causing him to attempt to dive out of the way, but the explosion still sending shrapnel into his side, as well as sending him flying for another few feet. Landing on the ground with a loud 'thud', Lee tried to blink the stars out of his eyes, as his ears ringed, and his blood spilled from his body. Some heavy footsteps could be heard from behind him, as Lee tried to crawl away. A heavy kick to his side, forced him onto his back as he groaned in pain, clutching at his bleeding side. The alien held some kind of pistol, directing it at Lee's head. The alien seemed to smirk, or at least what passed for a smirk when you have mandibles instead of a mouth. Its fingers tightened around the trigger, and Lee closed his eyes, waiting for his death. It never came. A loud 'bang' echoed through the streets. A thud followed, and Lee could feel a weight on his chest. He heard the pounding of footsteps, and he opened his eyes to see a Military Police helmet above him, a red cross on the 'forehead' of it, a medic. Lee groaned from his pain and weariness while the medic wordlessly pulled out a canister with some kind of nozzle, and stuck it in the wound. Pulling the trigger, he filled the wound with some kind of foam, as Lee grunted from the pain. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here." The medic said reassuringly. Lee just mumbled something, and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

August 24, 2643

Planet Reach

Reach. Once nothing but glass, terraforming projects had brought back the grassy fields, as well as uncovering the old battlegrounds, or at least the ones that weren't glassed into oblivion, of Reach, and the secrets they held. Atop a small hill, a little boy, no older than 9 ran along the green grass of a once desolate planet, a building of some kind can be seen in the distance, as various ships fly above it, bringing in the necessary buildings for the new colony. The young boy ran, letting his long, black hair, which he stubbornly kept against his mother's wishes, flow against the wind, and push against his face. He revealed at the feeling of the wind against his face, even though it forced him to squint through his brown eyes. His skin was tanned from hours in the sun, playing, and despite being well fed, he looked a bit thin. As the young boy reached to top of the hill, he stopped, panting as his little feet slowed, until he just stood atop the large hill, looking out at the mountains, watching the ships enter and leave the atmosphere. Deciding to continue his walk, he turns around and starts moving, only to trip on something sticking out of the ground, landing on his hands and feet as he reached out to protect himself. As he picked up his bleeding hands, and rolled into a sitting position to try to stop the stinging in his knees, he looked down to see what had tripped him up. At first it seemed like some kind of rock, but as the boy moved around it, he caught an almost golden glimmer coming from the bottom of the protrusion. Now intrigued, the boy grabs a rock from nearby and starts to dig with it. As he slowly uncovers more of the object, it slowly comes clear to him that it's some kind of helmet. Digging the whole thing out, he picks it up, the cuts and scrapes on his hands and knees now forgotten. Inspecting it, the boy notices that it looks old, the visor cracked, and riddled with holes, the whole thing seemed so smooth, and rounded. Atop the helmet, written along the side, it said, in cracked white paint, "B-312".

As the boy looked and wondered at what those letters and numbers meant, he heard the loud, shrill voice of his mother calling for him. "Brian!" she called. "Brian Lee! Where are you!" Looking behind him, Brian saw his mother running up the hill. His mother's hair was just as dark as his, though much longer, her face fair. As she jogged up the hill, she saw Brian, and broke into a full run. She reached Brian, and scolded him, "Don't ever run off like that again! You almost gave me a heart attack when you disappeared like that." After a bit more scolding, she noticed the helmet in Brian's hands, and asked "What's that in your hands Brian?"

"It's a helmet!" Brian said, showing it off to his mother.

"I can see that… Well, anyways, let's go home." They both headed down the hill, walking home.

_In the years after the Human-Covenant War, the United Earth Governments managed to stay friendly with the Covenant Separatists, despite tensions and old grudges brought by the memories of the atrocities the Sangheili and their old Covenant allies had done. The Separatists ended up isolating themselves to hunt down the remaining Covenant Loyalists, though things didn't go very well until the San 'Shyuum went into seclusion, leaving the Loyalists without a leader. Even then, hunting down the Loyalists was still an arduous process, for many had gone into hiding, and were now using guerilla tactics of hit and run. Due to many problems, the fact that the Sangheili had little in ways of industry and science, were forced to come to humanity for aid. Despite the protests of the people, the UEG moved in to help, aiding them industrially, militarily and scientifically, the Separatists and Loyalists alike having only used reversed engineered Forerunner weapons, and never having to really develop anything. In return, the Separatists gave humanity all they knew about the Forerunners, and their technology, which humanity actually attempted to understand. Since then, both humanity and the Separatists have been hunting down those that are still Loyal to the Covenant, as well as expanding, and rebuilding what they had lost, and since then, have formed the Systems Alliance. Since then, relations have been going well, but there are still groups that disagree, forming a pro-human organization, along with old ONI members that have been charged for what they have done with the SPARTAN program, called Cerberus. The discovery of an alien artifact that wasn't of Forerunner design changed everything._

**A/N: I would have chosen a better name for the alliance between the humans and the Separatists, but I'm horrible with names.**


End file.
